Chapter Two
It had been two days since they’d started recovering artifacts from the seafloor. Sam knew if she wasn’t here to keep an eye on things, many of the discoveries would have ended up back in the ocean. The other members of this expedition were after one thing and one thing only—whatever pertained to the Knights of the Dragon.
The phone on her desk rang, startling her from her work. Her heart began to pound, although she tried to remain calm outwardly. “Yes.”
“They’re bringing up another load from the seabed,” Aaron told her. “I’ll make certain it’s brought down.”
“Fine.” She hung up the phone and went back to working on her notes, but the computer screen blurred in front of her, the words all running together. She rubbed her eyes but didn’t relax her guard, not for one second. She was almost 100 percent sure this room was under surveillance. It only made sense, since she was handling potentially priceless artifacts.
About ten minutes later, Sam took a deep breath, closed her laptop, and headed to the galley to get a cup of coffee. Mug in hand, she headed topside. She really needed a coat, but she wouldn’t be staying outside long. All she needed was a breath of fresh air and a few moments alone.
She stepped out onto the deck and huddled beside the door, using the wall of the cabin to block the wind. Voices were raised and a mechanical whir filled the air as the winch brought up the latest batch of artifacts.
Sam watched the choppy waves rock the boat. So far, the weather had been exceptionally good, a rare occurrence for this time of year. She prayed it would hold, at least until she was able to take a dinghy and get off the ship. That was her plan. It wasn’t much of one, but there really weren’t any other options.
If she found something that belonged to the Knights, she’d take it and run. If they found her, she’d try to destroy it. Whatever worked. There was no way she could let them get their hands on anything that might give them even more power.
Maybe she was delusional to believe her small efforts, taking and destroying one or two small items, might have any effect on the operations of the Knights of the Dragon, but it was all she had. The only way she could possibly enact some kind of justice for her mentor.
And if they didn’t find anything? She might still have to make a run for her life. She had a sinking feeling she wasn’t meant to survive this trip. She’d been watching and learning about the Knights for the past year, and all the while they’d been monitoring her.
This deadly game of cat and mouse would soon be at an end.
Sam ducked inside and headed back to her temporary lab. She was settled in and working once again when two workers brought in a plastic tub filled with encrusted items under Aaron’s watchful eyes.
She waved them over to her right. “Put it there. I’ll get to it when I’m done with this.” She continued her inspection of the corroded remains of a dueling pistol before logging it into the records she was keeping of each item salvaged from the Reliant.
Aaron scowled but simply nodded and jerked his head at the other men. They hurried back out of the room, leaving her alone with the head of security.
“Anything?” Aaron stood in the doorway to her workspace, filling it completely. Even though the dueling pistol had long since passed its useful stage, she picked it up. Having the weapon in her hand made her feel marginally better. It might not fire a bullet, but she could use it to bludgeon him if necessary.
“This is a common dueling pistol dating about twenty years before the sinking of the vessel. We have to assume it was either a family piece or someone bought it to be used.”
He swore and stalked over to the table where she had all the artifacts displayed. Most of it looked like encrusted clumps of metal that would have to be cleaned further. Other items, like the pistol, were easily recognizable.
“I don’t care about the damn gun.” He picked up the remnants of a dagger and ran his finger along the flat edge of the corroded blade before dumping it back on the table.
“What do you care about?” It was bold and brazen of her to ask, but she wanted to know if he was hired muscle or if he had a higher stake in the game the Knights were playing.
His eyes flashed and his expression turned from one of frustration to his patented smile. “Why, treasure, Dr. Bellamy. Isn’t that what everyone wants when they go treasure hunting?”
“Depends on your definition of treasure,” she retorted. “What we’ve uncovered so far says a lot about the people who died on board the Reliant.” She reluctantly set the pistol down on the top of her workspace. “If you mean gold, silver, and jewels, you may be disappointed. Those kinds of discoveries are rare.”
Aaron ambled over to stand beside her. It took everything in her not to tense at his closeness. The bastard knew he made her uncomfortable, and he liked it. Damned if she’d give him even more satisfaction by showing him.
“Our boss will want an update later tonight. Make sure you have a general idea of what’s in the latest haul.” With that, he left her alone.
Thankful for small favors, Sam went back to work. As much as she wanted to rush to the latest finds and dig through them, she forced herself to continue cataloging the pistol. When it had been tagged, photographed, logged, and set on the table with the other artifacts, she decided enough time had passed. If anyone was watching her, she wouldn’t seem too eager.
She went to the plastic tub where they’d piled the latest items and began to pull them out one by one and set them on another table to better view them. She was surprised to see a glint of gold. She rubbed the spot of what appeared to be part of a chain, revealing more of the precious metal. It was a necklace.
At least she’d be able to tell Aaron he was getting some gold out of the trip, even though she didn’t think he’d appreciate it.
There was something totally unexpected near the bottom of the tub. A fairly large pottery urn with a broad top. She set it carefully on the table, her excitement mounting. It was still sealed. Whatever was inside could be preserved.
Of course, it might be nothing. But she didn’t think so. Her senses were humming so loudly she was practically vibrating. She’d ignored the sensation because they’d been humming ever since the Integrity had arrived at the search site.
This was different. Whatever was inside this urn was significant. Still, she forced herself to go through her normal routine of tagging, snapping pictures, and logging it into inventory before she reached for a sharp knife to break the seal.
She shouldn’t be doing this so quickly. Not without extensive consultation and thought. She could potentially destroy whatever was inside. If this were a normal marine recovery, she’d set it aside until she was back on shore and had more equipment available.
But she couldn’t wait. This might be the only chance she would get to see what was inside before Karina Azarov took possession of the artifact. She took a deep breath, slipped the knife around the edge of the opening to the pottery jar, and carefully cut through the heavy wax seal that covered the entire top and several inches down the sides.
It wasn’t easy. Even after all this time, the urn did not want to give up its secrets.
Once she’d loosened the seal, she jammed the knife downward and pried the layer of wax off. It revealed another stopper. This one was metal and took even more effort to maneuver.
She was sweating by the time it finally gave way. She set the knife down and lifted the metal stopper, carefully placing it on the table. Her heart pounding, she grabbed a flashlight and shone it into the opening. It was empty except for another smaller jar and the straw padding used to cushion it.
Sam took a deep breath and then another. When she was calm enough, she lifted the urn onto its side and carefully tipped the contents onto the table. The smaller jar rolled out, and she caught it before it could fall off the table.
When she had the larger urn upright once again, she turned her attention to the jar. It was more ornate than the larger one, with symbols from different cultures running all around the side. The markings confused her. They were a combination of protection and warning that what was inside was extremely powerful.
She didn’t need any symbols to tell her that. The jar was pulsing with energy. Anyone else might not be able to feel it, but there was no hiding it from her gift.
A more primitive part of her psyche screamed at her to destroy whatever was inside. It was dangerous. That much she knew for sure.
Her timetable had just been moved up. She had to get out of here tonight.
…
Ezra raked his hair back from his face, squeezing the water from the thick strands. The ocean always invigorated him. Naked, he stood on his dock and watched the waves. Thirty feet from shore, a whale breached the surface before disappearing once again into the depths. The forty-foot female humpback had raced alongside him for a time, and he’d slowed so she could join him in their mutual enjoyment of flying through the water.
He padded back up to the house, his stomach grumbling all the way. Definitely time to eat. Drakons burned a lot more calories than humans did. And after a two-hour swim, Ezra was starving.
Not bothering with clothes—one of the perks of living alone—he went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. He’d put four large flank steaks in there to marinate while he was gone.
The grill pan was already on the stove, so he turned it on to heat it up. While he was waiting, he helped himself to a bottle of water, grabbed his phone off of the counter, and checked his messages.
There was only one, and it was from Tarrant, asking him to call back. It was answered on the first ring. “What’s up?” he asked.
“Picked up some chatter.” Tarrant was a world-class hacker. He’d been fascinated with technology since its inception and owned the largest telecommunications company in the world.
“About?” He took a swig of water and wandered back to the stove. Deeming the pan hot enough, he grabbed a set of tongs and put the steaks on the grill.
“Seems Karina Azarov has a boat off the coast of Maine not too far from you.”
“That so?” He hadn’t noticed any unusual boats to the northeast, so it must be more south.
“That’s so. And according to Valeriya, this particular boat is a research vessel, one that salvages shipwrecks.” Now that was interesting, and Valeriya would know. Ezra still had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that his brother was involved with the sister of the head of the Knights of the Dragon, but there was no doubting Valeriya’s devotion to Tarrant.
“Any idea what the Knights are looking for?”
There was some tapping in the background, and Ezra knew his brother was doing some sort of search with his computer. He took the opportunity to flip the steaks.
“According to what I’ve been able to access, which isn’t a lot, it’s a passenger ship that went down in the eighteen hundreds.”
“Must have something pretty special on board for them to go to all that trouble.” Karina Azarov didn’t do anything unless there was some gain in it for her.
“That’s what we need to find out. If they’re up to something, you can stop them. I’m texting you the approximate coordinates.”
Ezra checked the steaks on the grill, deemed them done, and lifted them onto a clean plate. “What exactly are you saying, Tarrant?”
The war between the Knights and the drakons had been ongoing for centuries, but in the past few weeks, it had ramped up to a whole new level. Darius was being actively hunted, and Tarrant’s home had almost been destroyed. The drakons had been content to live and let live. That had proved to be a mistake. It had made the Knights bolder and deadlier.
But the time had come to take a stand. The Knights didn’t care who they hurt in their hunt for power. They’d killed thousands of innocent humans over the centuries, and most recently a good friend of Tarrant’s, and his brother didn’t make friends easily.
“Find out what the Knights are doing out there, get any artifacts if there are any to get, and scuttle the ship.”
“You want me to kill them?” It was one thing to protect himself, quite another to murder people in cold blood. “What if some of the crew is innocent?”
Tarrant swore. “Just sink the damn ship. They can get back to shore using their lifeboats. But at least they won’t be able to use that particular ship again.”
Ezra could live with that. “I’ll check it out tonight.”
“Make sure you’re not seen. They don’t need to know who you are.”
“I know how to go undetected in the water,” he reminded his brother. “I am a water drakon.”
Tarrant sighed. “I know. I’m on edge with everything going on right now.”
“How is Valeriya?” That was the one subject guaranteed to take his brother’s mind off his troubles.
“She’s doing great. Almost finished work on her latest book.” Valeriya wrote and illustrated children’s books.
“Tell her I’m looking forward to reading it.” It might be for kids, but Ezra had ordered copies of her books about a friendly little dragon. He’d read them and liked them.
“I will. I gotta go, but let me know how things turn out.”
“Will do.” Ezra ended the call and tossed his cell phone on the counter. He could check the coordinates of the ship before he left. Right now, the steaks were done. He should have baked some potatoes to go with them, but he was too hungry to wait.
He carried his meal to the table, dug up a fork and knife, and began to eat. By the time he finished the last one, the worst of his hunger was sated. He carried his dishes to the kitchen and tucked them into the dishwasher.
The house was quiet. He didn’t own a television. Anything he wanted to watch, he streamed on his laptop. He had a large sectional sofa and a couple of large chairs flanking the stone fireplace, but he usually sat at the window seat. He liked being able to see the water.
He mounted the stairs and went to the master suite. Drakons didn’t need a lot of sleep, but he was tired. He’d been pushing himself hard since his family had left. Seeing his brothers with their women had made him realize just how empty his life was.
He stretched out naked on the bed, stacked his hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling. Fluorescent stars glowed out of the darkness. He’d put hundreds of the stickers up there for nights when it was foggy outside and he was unable to view the real stars in the sky through the two skylights.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He’d rest for an hour or two and then he’d head out.